Voting Rights Act

The United States Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the requirement that would-be voters take literacy tests in order to qualify to register to vote, and it provided for federal registration of voters in areas that had less than 50% of eligible voters registered. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965.

Related Topics:
United States - 1965 - Lyndon B. Johnson - August 6

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The VRA was made necessary by the practices of the socially conservative, southern wing of the Democratic Party. Although the right to vote regardless of race is guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment, some Dixiecrats argued that Primary elections were an internal party affair, and that the party was a "private club", so that the government had no authority over its criteria for membership and other factors relevant to participating in primary elections.

Related Topics:
Democratic Party - Fifteenth Amendment - Dixiecrats

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The campaign to bring about federal intervention to rectify this situation culminated in the Selma to Montgomery marches.

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The Act has been renewed many times and remains in force as of 2005: its most used (and most controversial) provision requires that the United States Department of Justice "preclear" any change in a state's voting laws that may have a negative impact on the voting rights of minorities.

Related Topics:
As of 2005 - United States Department of Justice

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The Voters Rights Act was signed in 1965 by Lyndon B. Johnson. It was not made a law. In 1982, Ronald Reagan amended the Voters Rights Act for another 25 years. Some portions of the act are up for renewal in 2007, most notably section 5. Section 5 requires "covered jurisdictions" to obtain preclearance before implementing a change in a voting standard, practice or procedure. Section 5, as currently authorized by Congress, stays in effect until 2007. The burden of proof under Section 5 is on the governmental body to establish that the proposed change does not have a retrogressive purpose.

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